For years, Prohoc has been sending expertise across the Gulf of Bothnia. Now the company is making it official with a strategic acquisition in Norrköping and ambitions that stretch across the Nordics.
Prohoc AB has existed as a legal entity in Sweden since 2021. With the acquisition of Sumitomo SHI FW’s (SFW) field service operations in Norrköping, the strategy becomes reality.
“We had been looking for the right target since 2021, something that fits us strategically. Now we have found it,” says Kimmo Kohtamäki, Group CEO, Prohoc.
Prohoc AB now has a tangible base, a local team with invaluable customer knowledge and an immediate foothold in one of Northern Europe’s most active industrial markets.
Why Sweden, why now
“Sweden is, quite simply, a golden market. In terms of industrial manufacturing, we are talking about roughly five times the size of Finland,” explains Matias Träskbäck, Senior Vice President, Global Field Services, Prohoc.
Sweden’s energy market is undergoing a fundamental transformation, and the window of opportunity is wide open. Electricity demand is expected to double in less than ten years, driving a massive modernisation cycle across nuclear, hydropower and grid infrastructure. Battery energy storage is growing faster than any other energy technology in the country.
As Mats Ohls, Senior Vice President at SFW Global Services, puts it: “Five years ago, everyone was talking about the green transition. Today the conversation has shifted – energy security and independence are now the main drivers. But the solutions are the same.”
And the energy transition itself is now the engine behind a broader industrial revolution, where green steel, hydrogen and large-scale electrification are reshaping the entire manufacturing landscape, creating a level of investment activity the market has rarely seen before.
The critical bottleneck is not capital, it is expertise. Sweden needs experienced partners who can deliver across the full project lifecycle, from execution and commissioning through to long-term field service and operations. That is precisely where Prohoc operates.
A win-win partnership
The relationship between Prohoc and SFW did not start with this acquisition. There is a shared history of collaboration across multiple touchpoints – specialist resources on new-build projects, joint development programmes and co-ownership connections.
What this deal does is take that relationship to a fundamentally new level: from supplier to strategic partner. For SFW, whose core business is highly cyclical with maintenance concentrated in the summer months, a partner capable of growing across other industries is not just a convenience, it is a strategic advantage.
“As Prohoc grows across other industries and markets, SFW benefits too. A stronger, more capable partner means better service and more stable capacity year-round,” Ohls explains.
For Prohoc, the fit is equally clear. The SFW customer base with energy companies and large industrial investment projects is precisely the terrain they want to cover across the Nordics.
From Sweden to Norway, and beyond
The Norrköping acquisition is the opening move in a larger Nordic strategy for Prohoc. Specialist Services and Global Field Services are ready to scale immediately while Production Services will follow as the Swedish operation matures. Norway is already on the radar, with market exploration underway.
The synergies between SFW and Prohoc are not limited to Scandinavia. Collaboration discussions are already underway in the US and Canada. “I would rather call Prohoc than a distant overseas provider, and that says something about the kind of partnership we are building,” says Ohls.
Kohtamäki is equally pleased with the partnership.“SFW is a model example of the OEM partnerships we are striving for: a long-term relationship that drives our strategy forward. We are honoured they chose Prohoc as their partner, and as a new home for their field service team in Norrköping.”
More than a transaction: finding the right home
When Sumitomo SHI FW (SFW) decided to outsource its field service operations in Sweden, they evaluated several partners. Mats Ohls, Senior Vice President at SFW Global Services, explains why Prohoc stood out – and what they are building together.
Choosing the right partner
The brief was clear from the start, SFW was not looking for the cheapest option. Instead, they were looking for a long-term strategic partner to build a durable relationship with. Prohoc’s strategy to grow alongside its OEM partners and never to compete against them proved to be decisive. One of the other candidates wanted to keep open the option of going directly to end customers. For SFW, that was a dealbreaker. Prohoc’s position was unambiguous, and it aligned perfectly with what SFW needed. “It was important for us to find a partner that shares the same way of thinking and that we can build something with over time. With Prohoc, that alignment was there from the beginning.”
A new home for the team
Strategy and commercial logic matter, but so do people. When SFW decided to transfer its Norrköping team to a new employer, finding the right cultural fit was not a secondary consideration, it was central to the decision.
Prohoc’s people-first philosophy, its approach to employment security and its track record of treating staff as the company’s most important asset made a strong impression. “We wanted to find a good new home for our employees, where they would be well taken care of. Prohoc’s way of working with people and the value they place on them gave us that confidence.”
Built to grow together
Over time, Prohoc’s expansion is likely to open up new ways of working together, shaped by new markets, shared customers and emerging opportunities along the way. “We don’t see this as something where work only comes from one direction. As the partnership develops, it will hopefully go both ways. We bring opportunities to them, and they bring opportunities to us.”
Partnerships built on the right foundations tend to grow, often in ways neither party fully anticipates at the start.